Even though she knew he'd done it for Haedys first and foremost, Persephone felt frustratingly grateful for Kona pushing their schedule so far back. Her head was still gently telling her it was sleep time, but by the time he'd returned to their room in the morning, she was functional.
Even factoring in her short existential crisis as she processed the additional piece of Haedys she'd absorbed in the night. These "dreams" felt so eerily familiar. Like things that had happened to her once, long ago. Were these memories what were affecting her head? Changing her through the secondhand experiences?
In a way, she was glad Kona was providing this nonsensical distraction.
"So do we just need to… hide, or whatever?" she asked.
She was changed and ready for the new day. Haedys had followed Percy throughout her morning ritual as if to pretend she were participating. Somehow, in spite of their connection, she seemed unable to pick up on the unsubtle hints that Persephone could have done without the orbiter.
"Haedys can do the hiding first. As a Pokémon, she should have greater control over her aura," he suggested, nodding to the little ghost hiding in her hair. "And she can hide wherever she wants on this floor," Kona finished.
Haedys had spent most of the conversation thus far trying to avoid Don's stare. Whatever the Banette's creepy greeting to her had translated to, she hadn't particularly liked it. But at Kona's declaration that nervousness abruptly broke, replaced by excitement. She was very good at hiding—she used to do it all the time.
Persephone was less eager, folding her arms and leaning back against the wall. "Are we allowed to do that? Your… 'employees' have been, like… super defensive about us going anywhere or doing anything."
"Who cares about them? If I say you can, then you can," Kona scoffed.
Hardly a reassuring answer. But in a technical sense, Percy supposed it was true— she didn't get all the politics here, but Kona seemed to have some authority over them.
"Great point," she responded dryly. "So when do we start?"
Kona hummed to himself and leaned further back against the desk. "Mm. Sixty."
Persephone stared blankly at him and blinked.
"Fifty Nine… Fifty Eight…"
She and Haedys glanced at each other in confusion as Don started snickering.
"Fifty Seven… Fifty Six…"
Confusion turned to epiphany. Then mild alarm. The ghost and the woman alike perked up and suddenly looked around, fumbling to figure out what they were supposed to do.
"Fifty five… Fifty four…"
The gray blur darted for the exit. Persephone dove after her Pokémon, but Kona's arm shot out to grab her. He held Percy still just long enough for her to remember whose turn it was to hide.
"Fifty three… Fifty two…"
Haedys hesitated in the doorway, turning back to stare with a startled gaze. Realizing she'd be alone again, even if on the same floor.
"Fifty one… My-oh-my, forty already!"
The panic of the ongoing countdown won out, and with a panicked squeak, Haedys disappeared into the hallway. Persephone could sense her flying further and further away, as Don's giggling erupted into a maddened cackle.
In spite of her growing anxiousness, Percy waited there as Kona finished his irritatingly dramatic countdown. Her eyes drifted downwards to Don. The Banette stared up at her with an eerie fixation and the same constant grin as his trainer. His piercing stare was a bit unnerving on its own, but sensing he had her attention the ghost took it a step further. He reached up to his mouth and dragged the zipper that sealed it shut.
Persephone quickly understood why it was usually sealed— the interior of the ghost's mouth seemed impossibly dark, and the saggy and amorphous material that formed their lips made the orifice look unnatural, like someone had ripped a hole in his face. Don slowly slipped his finger into the corners of it and pulled, stretching his mouth horrifically wide and twisting it into an enormous smile that took up most of his head.
Persephone blinked. By all accounts it was horrifying. But it wasn't getting a rise out of her. She wasn't sure if it was the newfound ghost part of her brain desensitizing her to his tricks, or just her natural disrespect for complete tryhards.
Don held the pose. But after a few seconds, Percy could see his eyes dim. His shoulders sank, and he turned away with a little "baa" to begin reassembling his face.
Percy smirked, taking some petty satisfaction out of disappointing the little menace.
"And zero! Ready, Percy dear?" Kona exclaimed, finally tuning back into reality.
Persephone just sighed and made for the door without answering.
Setting out into the hall and starting to walk, it didn't take long for Persephone to realize that this was about the stupidest game of hide and seek she had ever played.
She wasn't sure if Haedys hadn't understood the whole instruction to 'try suppressing the link', or just wasn't able to. She prayed it was the former. But either way, she practically had a compass in her mind pointing directly toward the person who was supposed to be 'hiding'.
That left navigating the halls of the building as the primary obstacle. Even if she knew loosely where the Misdreavus was, she still had to figure out how to maneuver through a corporate labyrinth.
To her surprise, Kona was remaining quiet for once, hands deep in his pockets as he followed casually and watched her progress dutifully. Even Don appeared to be on his best behavior.
Percy hadn't had the chance to explore yet, but now that she was seeing more of the floor there was something particularly stuffy about it. The "guest rooms" she was staying in were lined up side-by-side like cells. Everything was in sanitized grays and whites, and the halls were quiet save for the faint buzz of fluorescent lights above. The few staff members she passed hardly acknowledged her, and all carried a hard exterior about them. Every door was kept closed, and every room she poked her head into had blinds tilted shut.
The atmosphere felt closed off. Like no one here wanted to be watched— or to watch what anyone else was doing in private.
Even Persephone couldn't ignore the bad vibes the place gave, at this point. Thus far she'd assumed those vibes were the usual suspects. Adults looking down on her. Big business being innately evil. Her hatred of their soulless, corporate environment. But something deeper perturbed her that she couldn't quite place.
…Or perhaps that was Haedys worming into Percy's mind. It was only natural for the little ghost to distrust the inescapable light and human presence of this place. Was that instinct a warning from her own mind, or from the feral mind of a recently-wild Pokémon?
Persephone pushed down on a door knob only for it to resist, wiggling slightly before coming to a hard stop. Locked. Percy frowned. She could sense Haedys past it, but she wasn't sure if she was in that room or in another beyond it. Surely she couldn't have gotten in there if it was locked?
As she frowned at the door, considering, Kona spoke up.
"So can you not sense her, then?" he mused.
"I can," Persephone protested, glaring at him. By all accounts, she shouldn't have been offended by the implication that she couldn't, but it was practically instinct. "I just need to find out how to reach her."
"Maybe she phased through it?" Kona suggested, running his fingers down the smooth surface of the door. He shook his head. "No… I think we have special proofing against that in the labs."
Percy blinked at 'phased through', considering for the first time that some ghosts could do that. She had no idea about Misdreavus, though. She'd certainly never seen Haedys do it.
You know, maybe she should have at least read the Pikipedia page for Misdreavus when this began, or something.
"Well, let's test that little link of yours, shall we?" Kona suggested twirling his wrist enthusiastically as if he had a cane. Somehow, the man looked stranger in his professional attire than his usual circus getup. It brought his bizarre mannerisms into sharp contrast. "Work some magic."
Persephone growled. Kona wasn't going to leave her alone until they found this darned ghost, and if using the bond made it end faster, she'd pay the price.
Closing her eyes and peering into the black, she took a deep breath. She could feel Haedys nearby. She could feel almost exactly where. But it told her nothing about how to navigate there.
"Anything, Percy dear?"
Her lip twitched in irritation. She hoped that ignoring Kona would be enough to silence him for once, but she knew that wouldn't work for long. As it stood the link was useless. She needed to know where Haedys had been, not where she was.
A memory. Just like in her dreams.
She hesitated at that thought, like metaphorically raising her foot up to back away from something putrid spilled on the floor. If those were how Persephone's head was being influenced, would trying to access them intentionally only speed up the process?
A low grumbling from Don interrupted her focus briefly. Her time was limited before Kona would be prodding her again.
Pressured by that ticking clock of inevitable agitation, she forced herself to think back to something that had never happened. To recall a memory that wasn't hers.
A barrage of half-composed images flashed through Persephone's mind as fleeting thoughts. She had no idea if they were her own memories, Haedys' memories, or passing fancies of her imagination. Dark spaces, human faces. A Mismagius. The streets of Goldenrod outside. Pepper, a Dusknoir. Elle. Her mother.
Percy's thoughts were in disarray. She knew Haedys' memories were tangled up there, but trying to pluck them out clearly had only given her a headache.
Shaking her head, she opened her eyes and glared down the hall ahead of them. Still thinking, still focusing. She couldn't recall any specific sights or sound, but there was a faint familiarity about it.
Wordlessly, Percy started walking down the hall again. Away from the goal she could feel beyond the door. Kona quickly threw his weight off of the wall to pursue, practically tumbling over in his excited hurry.
"Did it work?" he asked overeagerly.
Persephone ignored him and glided down the hall with a purpose now. It was like the steps she'd never taken. Another hall intersected with this one at an angle and she took a sharp turn around it into an identical corridor. She was moving closer again, past several shut doors. But she didn't bother testing if they were locked. None of them were right.
The correct door was far more obvious— the one left ajar. A small crack that only a tiny, squishable little ghost could have squeezed through. And Pokémon were rarely concerned with shutting doors behind them.
Pushing the door open she passed into a conference room. A long table curved like a bell in the center of the room with a projector at the foot of it. High, kingly chairs circled all around it with one positioned authoritatively at the head. Another door was on the opposite wall and closed up tight. That gave Percy pause, as she stopped to frown at it.
"Doesn't seem to be in heeeere," Kona hummed. He stepped over to spin the chair at the head of the table around and recoiled dramatically in mock surprise. "Unless…! She's hiding? Oh, she's quite good at this."
His tendency to start rambling to himself when ignored hadn't been lost on Persephone. But her focus was elsewhere. She had certainly come through here. She stepped forward and tried the handle on the opposing door, finding it unlocked. As soon as she saw the room behind it, she knew it was the right one.
It looked to be some sort of supply room, and certainly not a popular one. It was dim, the only light pouring in from the doorway she stood in. Cardboard boxes lined the countertops with a thin layer of dust atop them. Neat stacks of paper and pens poking out of containers like flowers joined them up there, just in case anyone on the floor needed to pluck an extra dusty pen. It was no surprise the Ghost-type had gravitated to an abandoned place like this.
Percy glanced down at the handle in her grasp and her fingers slid off of it. This Pokémon had been concerned with shutting doors behind her. Or more specifically, with not leaving a trail.
She made her way straight to one of the floor-level cabinets beneath the counter and crouched down beside it. Two fingers looped in the handle and flicked it open to reveal the Misdreavus drooped on the floor of it and pouting up at her with puffed cheeks.
Percy had cheated.
Persephone raised a brow. "It's not cheating when that was literally the point of this." Something dawned on her, and her brow raised further. "…You forgot about that and literally just wanted to play hide and seek, didn't you?"
Haedys didn't need to answer that as the blob of fabric expanded into a ghost and rose out from the dusty old cabinet. Percy flicked it shut behind her.
A hearty clapping filled the dingy room, and they turned to see Kona's ugly grin waiting in the doorway. Don had joined him in applauding, the gentle slapping of the ghost's fabric-y hands not contributing much.
"Wonderful! So, is it safe to say you couldn't 'turn it off', then?" he asked, looking directly at Haedys.
The ghost hesitated to consider a moment, before frowning and replying— "Mis."
Persephone wasn't sure what exactly he'd expected.
"She… didn't really try," Percy explained, folding her arms. She couldn't help but give the ghost the slightest agitated glare. "She doesn't really mind the whole 'forcefully linked' thing."
The flutter of Haedys' skirt slowed and she dropped a foot lower in the air, her eyes widening with a guilty pout. But the dead-puppy-dog-eyes didn't work on Persephone. Especially after she turned around and refused to look at them.
"Well, that matters not! Because it's your turn, and you've made it very clear how much you want to cut the line," Kona exclaimed, leaning up from the doorframe. He shooed her. "Now run along. Go hide, somewhere on the floor."
Persephone stared at him. Her first instinct was to be offended at his insistence she keep playing hide and seek. Her second instinct was a bit of genuine excitement—she wanted to know if she was able to cut this off, somehow. Her third instinct was to be offended at the way he shooed her, like a wild Pidove.
Unfortunately, the glare she met him with was countered by…
"Fifty Nine… Fifty Eight…"
She and Haedys glanced at each other, knowingly this time.
"Fifty Seven… Fifty Six…"
Percy nodded, and begrudgingly Haedys nodded back.
"Fifty five… Fifty four…"
Haedys nervously watched as Persephone darted past Kona and out the doorway. Leaving the little Misdreavus alone with the strange man.
"Fifty three… Fifty two…"
A small, smug smile crept onto Kona's lips.
Persephone burst into a breakroom, flinging the door open in an excessively frantic rush. Sure, she'd had a whole minute, but she couldn't hear the countdown anymore. That meant it was probably moving twice as fast now!
Her eyes raced across the small chamber, desperately searching for a hiding spot. She leaned her head into the sink, questioning if she would somehow fit in her panicked daze. Flung herself across the room to a set of small, personal lockers. Perhaps Haedys might have fit in those, but it was a no-go for her. Behind the vending machine? No, that would only cover her from one side…
She came to a large cabinet. It was a few feet off the ground with some floor-level drawers beneath it, but it looked like a fit. Without even thinking, Percy's hands flew forward to fling the doors open. There was a single coat on a rack inside, and not much else.
And now there was also a scrawny young woman inside of it. The doors slammed shut.
Persephone found herself alone inside a cramped, dark, and warm space. As she settled in and wrapped her arms around her knees… she realized she sort of liked it.
It was quiet and it was hidden and it was safe. Safe from what? Predators, of course. It was stupid, and Percy knew it. These weren't her instincts. She was being turned into a half-Ghost freak in her own head.
Her lip twisted a bit, and that thought spurred her to remember her purpose in doing this. She had to cut that link, somehow.
Unfortunately, that proved more difficult than invoking Haedys' memories had been. She'd had a reference for seeing memories, but blocking the link? That was entirely new.
Percy squinted and focused as hard as she could, imagining a brick wall in her head. Imagining a clamp smothering that link between them. Imagining… herself turning away from Haedys as dramatically as she could.
But imagination was all it felt like. How was she supposed to know if it was working? She had no idea what she was not feeling.
The door to the breakroom suddenly slammed open outside her cabinet. Persephone's stomach sank— she'd been found already. But turning her mind's eye back to that link— which was concerningly live as ever— she realized Haedys was nowhere near her.
"Ridiculous how clever the little pest is," a voice entered the room, gruff and familiar. It took Persephone a moment to pin it.
"Annoying how clever the little pest is," another corrected, entering behind them. "Slipped past me before I'd even realized. Bonded Pokémon are a pain in the ass to work on. Too much wit from their trainer."
It clicked—these voices were the two researchers she'd been working with the prior evening.
The older man snorted. "Have you met its trainer? I don't think there was any wit to take." Fingers snapped. "You know, that's gotta be it. The little pest must be siphoning all the smarts out of her. Seems there's about one person's worth of wit between them."
Both of them burst into laughter as Persephone's fists curled and she felt the cabinet heat up around her from her outrage. In part fueled by the man hitting on her own insecurities about what was happening. Typically she would have burst out and shouted in protest. But those instincts to stay hidden in a dark place may have done her some favors there. Because when she stopped to consider, every way that played out in her head ended poorly.
Their laughter died down as the sink started up. And a heavy silence replaced it for a moment.
"What's the matter, Cayenne? No sense of humor?" one of them asked, a bit accusatory in tone. "Would have thought you'd be in a good mood. This is a chance to continue your research, ain't it?"
The only reply was a disapproving grunt from Cayenne's voice, confirming his presence between the others.
"Eh, he's high and mighty as always. As if I believe for one second you're not thinking the same thing after spending a week with the brat." A pause. "Two brats, actually. But at least Zane's kid is giving us something interesting for once."
Cayenne grunted again, and Persephone could hear the clicking of buttons on the vending machine. "I'll take Percy over Kona any day of the week," he muttered. "That kid's a sociopath."
That earned a laugh from the other two. "Yeah, but ain't like I'm not used to working for sociopaths. Funny irony about it—the brat looks at us like we're dirt beneath him, yet a few days with him and it already feels like we're back under Archer."
Only one snicker met that, while Cayenne returned another disapproving hum.
"Don't forget that Zane wants that 'brat' to take over one day. I don't trust Zane Riddle as far as I can throw him, but he's predictable in his self-interest," Cayenne responded dryly. "Kona is a wildcard that will turn on you all in a second."
Clearly, he'd said something wrong, as an uncomfortable silence suddenly fell over the room, only broken by the clattering of something heavy down into the tray of the vending machine. It lingered as the door to the machine clacked open.
Persephone had the distinct sense she should not be here. She had already abandoned her doomed attempt to block Haedys out, and now she was trying the exact opposite. Rather than trying to shut the link down, she focused on it and called Haedys to her. Inverting her own trick from earlier, she focused on the memory of the path she'd taken to get here and pushed it through.
Frustratingly, that seemed to work. She could faintly feel Haedys' surprise and recognition in return, elsewhere on the floor.
"Us," the older voice finally broke the silence with a single forceful word. "There's no 'you all'. We're in this together."
Percy wasn't even in the room properly, yet she could sense that the air had become positively frigid. There was no more noise from the vending machine, no more running of water. Casual conversation had clearly ended, and every word was now being calculated carefully. She could sense Haedys getting closer and pleaded with the ghost to make a distraction. Something to lure the three men out of the room.
"I don't give a damn if you want to pretend you've moved past it," the same voice continued. "I don't give a damn if you want to act like you're above us. But when you start talking like you ain't in the same sinking ship— that's when I start to worry. Start to wonder if you think your moral high-ground will keep your head above water. I swear on my bones, Adrien— If I have the faintest inkling that you've turned on us, I will drag you into the depths with me."
"That goes both ways," Cayenne quickly snarled back. "I'm well aware of our little… mutually assured destruction, 'Coriander'. And I'm well aware the brat hates me just as much. More, maybe. All I'm saying is that you should make sure you're long gone before that day hits."
Someone else emitted a quiet growl. But before the conversation could continue, a shrill shriek pierced the air.
"MIIIII!"
Two startled shouts as both of the Floatsam researchers leaped in their skin, and Cayenne only spared a small smirk. Haedys giggled briefly and an eerie light shimmered in her beads as she basked in their shock.
"Don't just sit there! Now lead them away!" Persephone silently reminded her.
"Mllleeeeeeemmmm!" Haedys stuck her grotesquely oversized tongue out and blew it at them, before spinning and flying back for the doorway.
She got about four feet before crashing into Kona's chest and plunking off.
"Hey! Get back here you miserable little—ah. Kona, sir." Whatever expletive the researcher was about to use was cut off by his temporary boss's presence.
The eccentric gave him a glare, as if daring him to harm a Pokémon in front of them. He held it a moment, asserting dominance, before looking to Haedys.
"She's in here?" he asked, conspicuously eyeing the three already in the breakroom.
"Mi!" Haedys nodded affirmatively.
"No I am not no I am not no I am not."
"Mi!" Haedys shook her head to the negatory.
Persephone slammed her face into her palm.
"'In here'?" the younger researcher asked, eyes widening as he perked up. He glanced around nervously as if they might have simply missed a fourth person standing there. "Who's in here?"
"Tell him it's no one! Tell him you were wrong!" Percy silently pleaded.
Haedys nodded in understanding. "Mi! Mimis! Misssss mi!"
"My, I've never seen you so talkative!" Kona exclaimed, grinning as he stepped into the room and spun around to take in all the possible hiding spots. "We must be close, then."
Percy muffled a pained groan with her own sweatshirt.
"Come on now, show us where!"
The trio of researchers were all glancing at each other with mild alarm now. "Excuse me? There's someone in here?" the older man— Coriander— demanded.
Haedys was frantically shaking her head now, but Kona was somehow taking that as encouragement. He strolled through the room, peeking behind the vending machine himself before opening several drawers to stare inside. As if she would have inexplicably fit inside them.
"Of course! Probably. Haven't you ever heard of hide and seek?" Kona cheerfully explained. He stuck his head halfway into the sink. "I'm so sorry you weren't invited."
Persephone's brain raced for an out. As soon as the first thought passed through her brain, she blurted it over their mental link— "Haedys, lick him!"
Even Haedys paused at that, squinting scrutinizingly at the air as she evaluated whether that thought had truly come from Percy, or had been an intrusive delusion. But after a moment she gave a dismissive hum, opened her mouth wide, and slammed her oversized tongue into Kona's face as he took his first steps towards the cabinet Percy was hidden in.
The slimy surface scraped across his skin, leaving a sticky trail of saliva in its wake before sliding off the top and trying to drag a few hairs with it. The man's face curled into a mix of shock and horror as his neck recoiled from her. Everyone else present paused to stare at the Misdreavus, dumbfounded.
Persephone could taste his sheer surprise. It was mildly invigorating.
"Mmmgmmm…" Kona finally let out a groan and took a few steps backward. He was still smiling, but it looked strained now as he raised his hand to flick the ghost's spittle off his face. "Going to be honest—I haven't the faintest idea how to interpret that one. Affection? I hope?"
Haedys answered him by smiling and floating away from the cabinet. Back over to the doorway. Clearly urging him to follow.
"Fine, fine. This was some sort of prank, I see," he muttered, starting to follow.
Persephone couldn't believe that had worked! Usually, when she blurted something insane during a panic, it just made the situation worse.
And to think she was so close.
The cabinet doors suddenly flung open with a horrible creaking, letting light beam in. Percy hissed and raised a hand to shield her eyes. If looks could kill, the face staring in at her would have incinerated her on the spot.
She opened her mouth to speak—to try and offer any explanation, but a hand was wrapped around the shoulder of her hoodie in an instant. A forceful yank threw her from the cabinet, and she barely landed on her feet before stumbling face-first into the vending machine.
"Mis!" Haedys let out a furious squeak at the abuse of her trainer and flitted in front of her defensively.
It took Persephone a moment to get her bearings, pushing herself off of the vending machine and onto unsteady legs. She turned wide-eyed to the equally startled faces throughout the room. Startled, except for one furious expression— Coriander was practically trembling.
"Y-you little BRAT!" he snarled. "Eavesdropping, are we?"
Persephone's face went white, and for the first time in her life, she decided not to say something smart.
"N-no! And I didn't understand anything you said, anyways!"
Unfortunately, Persephone had as usual decided not to say something smart.
Coriander's eye twitched, and he stepped forward with fists curled.
"Mmmiiiiiiiiiiiiii…" Haedys let out a little growl at him as that was far too high-pitched to be intimidating. Persephone could feel how frightened the little ghost was underneath it.
Fortunately, though, the gesture was enough. Glaring at her like she were a stain, the researcher hesitated. He scowled and turned, Kona earning his ireful eye instead. "You need to keep that girl under control," he growled. "Or I will."
Kona tilted his head innocently, smiling at the man with sadistic satisfaction. "What, were you three gossiping about your crushes? You all never struck me as a sort with any shame."
Three dirty looks went Kona's way, but he seemed to bask in them like light sunlight. Coriander said no more, instead throwing the breakroom door open and storming out. The other one that Percy wasn't familiar with quickly followed.
Cayenne lingered a moment longer, watching Persephone with a more guarded expression. His lips sat tense like he wanted to say something, but after a quick glance at Kona they tightened. He nodded in acknowledgment of them both before stepping out.
Leaving Kona alone with the shaken woman and her equally as spooked ghost.
Persephone never had the best intuition. Of course, she never admitted that to herself, but it was plain to see. Yet never in her life had she been able to so tangibly taste the malice radiating off of someone. It had left her faintly shaking.
In the crook of Haedys' neck, her orbs shimmered slightly. The light caught Percy's eye, and the realization dawned on her. She could taste his malice, lingering faintly now after he had gone.
It tasted bitter.
"What's got you so spooked, darling?" Kona asked as if the answer hadn't unfolded in front of him. He still had that stupid, smug grin. "You didn't seem the type to care about anyone else's opinions of you. What makes him so special?"
It took Persephone a minute to process the question, still staring at the wall and digesting the sheer vitriol she had taken in. Haedys was nuzzling against her now, simultaneously trying to provide and receive comfort in turn. Mindlessly her arms cradled the Misdreavus against her, but there was little sentiment behind it. Her mind was elsewhere and not responding to the ghost's attempts to link.
"He… threatened me!" she answered in a furious whisper. Her fists curled as her defiant nature flared, but their tremble spoke to how much will she had to fight.
Kona's smile turned to a frown, his eyes sharpening as he tilted his head. "Oh, is that what it takes for you to show anyone respect? Fear?"
Percy staggered a few steps backward in surprise, her mouth falling agape. She wasn't stupid enough to count on Kona, but she would have at least expected him to take the threats seriously.
As if sensing her objection he rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Don't worry. They're all spineless cowards," he calmly informed her. "But even if there's nothing behind it, I can't deny it's disheartening to see that be what finally leaves you speechless. That's what finally gets you to give someone anything other than snark. Not, mm… an inkling of self-awareness?"
Persephone curled her mouth at him, glaring back in abject disgust. This freakshow of a man was trying to pass judgement now, of all times? She let her expression say it all as her hands cupped Haedys against her shoulder.
The energy Haedys had tasted from that man… it was exactly what Mom had always said humans tasted like. Were these really the ones that could help Percy? They didn't seem nice.
Kona was meeting Percy's glare with one equally as disapproving. But he broke the silence first.
"Come on. As fun as the games were, this was completely useless as a test. And you~ know~ what~ that~ means!" he sang.
Persephone and Haedys let out groans in unison. They were sick of being lab rats already.
"Fine, but only if those freaks aren't the ones doing the testing," she demanded, waving a hand at the door.
Kona shrugged. "We'll see who's available."
Persephone stomped back into her white, lifeless room and threw the door shut behind her. She flopped onto the bed, and a little blob of gray plopped onto the pillow beside her.
They were tired. Hours of being asked questions. Hours of being asked to perform obtuse, abstract tasks in their own minds. All while being monitored and milked for data points. The staff they'd worked with this evening were different at least, but they still had that same rancid air as the others.
Percy dragged a pillow onto her face, earning a surprised squeak as Haedys flipped off of it and onto the mattress. She let out a long, heavy groan into it. It had only been a few days and she already couldn't stand this place. She couldn't bring herself to make eye contact with the staff anymore. And she had to second guess every one of her own thoughts, wondering if they were even hers.
She dragged the pillow off of her face to reveal the Misdreavus peering down at her with big eyes.
Was Percy okay?
"I'm fine," Persephone grumbled up at her, despite the pointlessness of trying to lie to her psychological squatter.
Haedys stared down at her with a little frown. Her skirt fluttered faintly on a phantom wind and Percy could feel her thinking. Trying to understand. Trying to empathize.
It was almost annoying how hard she tried.
It was okay to be afraid, Haedys reassured Percy. She wasn't comfortable here either. It was too bright. Too fake. Too hostile.
Persephone sighed and rolled her eyes half-heartedly. Her own concerns about the whole situation were a bit more… complex than the light and sound. If only for civility, she reached up and awkwardly patted the ghost's goopy hair.
As she felt her fingers sink into the nasty ectoplasm, she caught something in the corner of her eye that made her freeze. She sat up and her eyes widened as she yanked the blankets in front of her as though she were naked.
A tiny, red light blinked in and out on the base of the camera in the corner of the ceiling. It was staring straight into the room. And it was on.
It was only after Persephone remembered that she hadn't been doing anything particularly embarrassing that she felt confident enough to drop the blanket. But the momentary modesty quickly turned to anger.
Haedys perked up and stared curiously at her, alerted by the sudden outrage. What was it?
"That's a— that's a freaking camera in my room!" Percy hissed, flinging the blankets onto the floor and following after them as she flung herself out of the bed. Rising to her feet she glared up at it.
Haedys gave the device that confused little gape she made. Camera? That was like… when she was Percy in her dreams, right? Except awake?
Persephone grimaced at the random confirmation that Haedys was watching her own memories in return. But she nodded— it was a close enough comparison.
Haedys didn't understand what was so bad about that, but she knew Percy didn't like it. As Persephone was dragging the desk chair to the corner, she flew up to inspect it. She raised a big red eye and displayed it directly into the lens.
Percy stuffed the chair into the corner and tried climbing onto it. The moment her foot hit it, the chair pivoted on its swivel to warn her of the uneasy footing. The spinning caught Haedys' eye, and the Misdreavus turned away from the camera to watch Percy warily.
Didn't she want Haedys to get it instead? She wasn't so heavy.
"Watch who you're calling heavy!" Percy hissed, pushing one hand against the wall to steady herself and placing the other on the back of the chair to steady it. She tried pushing up, and the chair rolled backward away from her.
Haedys tilted her head curiously. Why was Persephone upset about that? She was heavy. She fell often.
Persephone muttered to herself, more annoyed by the chair than Haedys. If she wanted to get up, she needed to just do it fast. The chair couldn't slip if she was too fast for it to slip.
She reeled back and leaped, landing squat on the chair. It rolled backward and bumped into the wall. Percy wobbled, nearly falling over, and shot her arms out wide to distribute her weight.
…
Persephone was frozen in place for half a minute before releasing her breath. A smug smile passed her face. Miraculously, she had done it: she had climbed a chair without hurting herself for the first time. She rode that high as far as it would take her, pressing her palm against the wall and straightening her knees to stand upright.
"See? Who's heavy now?" Percy asked with a smirk, glancing at the ghost that was now just a foot above her head. She reached up and grabbed the neck of the camera, jerking it to the side to see if she could find a way to disable it.
Well, she was still heavy. If she wasn't this wouldn't have been a problem. But if she was sad about being heavy, it was okay. Haedys wouldn't remind her.
It was beginning to dawn on Persephone that to Haedys, anyone who met the simple criteria of "obeying gravity" might have been "heavy".
The Misdreavus hovered beside her hands and inspected the backside of the camera up close. She wasn't sure how any of this worked, but she could break it if that was what Persephone wanted.
"Breaking it is what I want to do," she scoffed. "But I'm gonna hear it if we break something. I'm just trying to figure out how to unplug it."
The doorknob abruptly rattled.
Percy's attention flitted to it, and with the sudden jolt her balance shifted. Her leg pushed just a bit harder and the wheel responded, flinging the chair out from under her. She nearly did a flip in the air before crashing onto the floor in a crumpled heap.
She let out a heavy, pained groan as the door opened. "What do you waaaaaaant, Kona?"
Some smug, sarcastic congratulations for her fall to follow, was all but a foregone conclusion. And yet… it never came. The silence that followed finally prompted her to look up from her twisted pose.
Her heart froze.
Coriander stood in the doorway, glaring at her once again. But the anger was gone, replaced by a chilling seriousness. He stepped in without being invited and shut the door behind him.
Percy swallowed, shifting a few inches backward as she frantically tried to place her limbs back into workable positions around her. Sensing her unease, Haedys fell down to float protectively by her side.
"I must apologize for what happened earlier." Coriander spoke with little regard for her vulnerable position and in a cool tone that made it clear he was anything but apologetic. He stood in front of the door with a wide stance that thoroughly covered the exit.
Persephone wasn't sure how to respond to that, her mouth hanging slightly open in shock. He didn't continue, waiting patiently for her response. She desperately scrambled to form one, unable to assemble the emotions much less the words to answer him. Her mouth opened wide, drawing enough air to try and blurt whatever her scattered mind could produce.
And the moment she did, he cut her off.
"I had mistaken for malice what could be adequately explained by stupidity," he offered coldly. "You see, I've worked more with Pokémon as subjects than people. And perhaps I had assumed you were smarter than a beast."
From anyone else, Percy would have bit them for saying something like her. But this man's aura had left her paralyzed. Something in her— some abandoned survival instinct, or something inherited from Haedys— was screaming: this was someone who would make good on their threats.
That fear spread, gripping Haedys just the same. They both stayed silent, staring back wide-eyed at this man and preparing for wherever this went.
"And you know what? That works out just fine. If you want to act like a little beast, then I know how to work with that." Coriander's cold eyes briefly turned up to Haedys and he gave a small, joyless smirk. "Hell, based on what we're seeing, it might not be entirely untrue."
Persephone's breath hitched. Her throat trembled as she sputtered a few times, trying to spit out words.
"W-what— do you— what i-is-"
Coriander seemed to grow tired of waiting for her to form a sentence, his expression harshening again. "While you're here you stay quiet. You do what you're told. You don't ask questions. If Zane's little brat tells you otherwise, you ignore him. In exchange, you're getting accommodations. You're getting medical assistance. And most importantly-"
He stepped towards her, prompting an immediate retreat. He looked her dead in the eyes and twisted his lips, making sure this part was imparted clearly.
"You don't get yourself involved in something you don't understand. This is not the time for you to gain some intellectual curiosity, girl. Do you understand?"
Persephone gulped, nodding meekly. The threat was understood. She barely understood any of what she'd heard earlier, but it had been enough to prompt this reaction. The last thing she wanted was to hear another word of it.
"Good," he responded dryly. "And one other thing."
He stepped past her, causing her to throw up her arm defensively. But he ignored her entirely to grab the toppled chair in the corner by its neck. He flung it upright and shoved it back to where it belonged, and then he raised a finger up towards the camera.
"Good beasts don't damage the equipment," he warned.
Percy's throat was dry at this point. She should have been fighting back— should have been putting this jerk in his place for talking to her like that.
But she couldn't say or do a thing. Haedys wanted to do something, but she had no idea what. And Percy's fear was seeping through and freezing her as well.
Persephone nodded again.
Coriander stared down at her a moment, his expression the sort of condescension one would show to an unsightly bug on the floor.
"Good."
With that, he stepped by her again and returned to the door. He opened it and was halfway through leaving when he turned back over his shoulder to eye her one last time.
"I'll see you tomorrow. That Misdreavus of yours is… fascinating." He gave a dry snort. "Maybe you'll get that from her too."
With that ominous remark, the door slammed shut behind him. The knob rattled one more time, and then… silence.
Persephone didn't dare move for several minutes after he'd vanished. Haedys stayed equally frozen by her side, still but for the constant flutter of her skirt. She finally swallowed the lump in her throat and gathered her bearings enough to push herself up from the floor and onto wobbly legs.
Alone together once more.
If there had been one constant in Persephone's life, it was that she had always known what to do. Or at least, she'd believed she knew what to do.
But at this moment she was lost.
How desperate were they to keep her here? Would they be ready and try to stop her if she made a run for it?
She shakily traced to her phone on the bed next. Call the cops? Coriander would surely pretend none of this had ever happened— maybe even frame her for something, and at this point, she had no idea who'd go along with it.
Even if she got out, Coriander had said it himself— she was changing more each day. If she left now, was she just resigning herself to her fate? Did she have any other options to get free before it was too late?
If she stayed, surely it would be fine if she just did what she was told. Stayed quiet.
Percy let out a small whimper. The two things she was best at.
They should leave.
Haedys finally caught Percy's attention with a far more serious gaze than Percy had ever seen on her little partner. These people were predators, and this place was their den. All of these human complications piled on top… did they really change what this was at its core? Percy was their prey.
For a moment, that briefly braced Percy's heart with a shared resolution. But it abruptly wavered. The momentary connection was replaced with an iron wall as her lip twisted.
"Easy for you to say we should just give up on it," Persephone muttered, glancing aside. "You don't care at all about this. You want this to happen."
Haedys let out a small squeak in protest, but it sounded guilty. She couldn't really deny it. But that didn't mean she didn't care that Percy cared.
Persephone's fist curled briefly as she glanced away, but anger quickly dissipated and she hung her head in defeat. "I just— I don't know."
As every option danced through her head at once, a troubling thought interjected between them and gave her pause. One should test before anything else.
She stepped towards the door, sparing a nervous glance at the camera and its blinking light. She wasn't going to do anything— she wasn't even sure if she wanted to do anything. But she had to know for the sake of her own sanity…
Her fingers curled around the handle, and she twisted her wrist. The doorknob wriggled… and refused to budge.
Persephone's heart sank as her fears were confirmed. The door was locked.